Hounds In The Moonlight
by SkittleButt
Summary: Life suffering through poverty, backstabbing, almost going broke, and sadness. My life was the worst... But music was always there for me. A story about how how K.K Slider became the man he is today
1. A Happy Kid

Before we begin, I'd like to introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Kai Karen Slider. Incase you're wondering, no. I have no clue why I was named Kai if I get a normal middle name with something like Karen. I was born in 1981 In a small town called Ambers. Ambers now is this really nice place that makes you feel like a friend with everyone, and it's nice. However, it's only been like this for about a decade. When I was a kid, yeah... It wasn't the best.

So what comes to mind when you think of the 80s? Well, you obviously think of Micheal Jackson, the NES, Pogs, Mullets, Action Movies, stuff like that. Well, let me first state that this was 1981. So that meant that we weren't full 80s like it would soon become. Heck, kids still played Ataris! Not only that, but they could afford things. Where I grew up, We were very poor. We could barely pay enough for rent, much less Pogs or video games! If you wanted to get something, you would have to be super lucky, like it was your birthday or something.

"La la la!" I sing, skipping home from preschool holding my mom's hand. She didn't seem too happy, and even 4 year old me could see that. "Mom, what's wrong?" I ask my mom, staring into her blue eyes. My mom looks down at the ground. "Nothing sweetheart. I'm just thinking about paying rent." She would say. Though, she says this every time I ask her! 4 year old me always believed my mom, but something broke the ice, and I knew something had been up. "Mommy, tell me. What's going on?" I ask. My mom looks at me with widened eyes, surprised that her excuses wouldn't work anymore. My mom sighs, bends down, and talks to me in an almost sad tone. "Ok, how do I put this for you?" She said, looking up. She then looks back down and tells me the truth. "Sweetie, I don't think we'll be able to afford you going to school anymore." She says, sadly. "Wha? Why?" "Well, we can barely pay off our rent, and we just barely have enough money to pay for school." "Well you can just get another job, and everything will be fine, right?" "I can, but then I won't be home as much, you'll have to be with your dad for a good while when I'd be working." "Oh, ok." I said, looking down. We continued going home, but I just stood by my mom and walked, thinking of ways to be able to afford going to school.

When I was younger, I was a genuinely a happy kid. Things would hardly get in my way. News would have to be really bad for me to get down and have a bad day. The news my mom hit me was making me upset, but I did get over it fairly quickly. Though we were living life just a paycheck away from poverty, I would still be there. I'd be the one skipping around humming a song after some tragic moments.

Here I am, 7 year old me in first grade. We were sitting in a circle, and talking about our lives.

"Hi everybody. My name is Shane. I'm 7. I like trains, playing on my dad's Atari, and making jokes." That's my good friend Shane. We've been friends since Pre-Kindergarten. I remember when we met, we were swinging and I made a joke because I was bored. We shared jokes back and forth, and he helps me calm down when I think of stressful things.

Shane looked down at his paper. "Oh wait, I gotta continue the thing." Shane went down on his list, and answered another question on the paper. "If I had one thousand dollars, I'd go to Disney Land! I'd also buy a lot of Legos. If I have any money left over, I'd give it to my mom because she works hard." He said, with a sound of child innocence. Everyone clapped, and now I was up.

"Oh, uh, H- Hello everyone! My name is Kai. I like, uh- let's see... I like playing on the playground, making jokes, and checking out the magazines at the corner store." I said. "If I had 1,000 dollars, I'd live in luxury. We'd live in a mansion! Life would be awesome! It's nothing like it is now!" I say. My teacher gave me some hard looks. "Kai, that's not nice. You still live a nice life." "Kinda." "Kai, you're being spoiled!" "Whatever." I reply.

Those moments are rare. I didn't always blurt out bad things on my life. I don't really know what happened, but I just did.

Sometimes, life opportunities are right in front of you and you need to go for it. This is exactly what happened for me a year later.

I was walking down the town with my mom, going into the local gas station, and I got a soda. I was sitting outside on a run down bench with my mom, just staring out into the cars going by on the cracked streets. A truck comes up to the parking area real close to us. It looked like a typical truck, and I didn't think much of it. I just sat there and thought about a cartoon I saw at the store one time on the TVs. The man got out of his truck and didn't turn it off, leaving the radio on. I was tapping my foot, just fidgeting around. The man in the truck put some gas into his truck and walked into the store.

And that's when I heard it.

It was a fun song. At first I was wiggling in my chair, hearing it squeak everytime I move. "Kai STOP!" My mom said to me. I begrudgingly lean back again, still doing things to the song that wouldn't annoy my mom.

You know you twist so fine!  
Twist so fine!  
Come on and twist a little closer!  
And let me know that you're mine!  
Well shake it up baby!  
Twist and shout!

Eventually, I couldn't stand just staying there anymore. I got up and started dancing around. My mom was amused, and chuckled.

Cmon Cmon Cmon Cmon BABAY!  
Come on baby!  
Come on and work it out now!

I continued dancing, and the man walked out. Without even hesitating, I ran up to him. "Hi sir!" "Hi?" He said, confused. "Who made this song?!" I asked, excited for this answer. "Oh, this? That's The Beatles!" "Kai! Come over here right now!" My mom yelled at me. "Sorry for interrupting your day sir." I said happily, walking back to the bench. Sure, there's always songs that get people excited when they first hear it. Though, this was the first moment that I got interested in music.

That day, The Beatles became a huge influence in my life.

Everytime I'd go somewhere and there's a radio, I'd pray that The Beatles come on. If I was lucky enough, I'd dance and have an amazing time. I remember one time I was with Shane when "All You Need Is Love" came on. We both broke into dance, and I sang along.

"There's nothing you can sing that can't be sung!  
Nothing you can do that can't be done!  
Nothing you can say  
But you can learn to play the game  
IT'S EAASY!" I'd sing.

The Beatles were a huge influence on me. I had gotten huge into music and gotten into artists like The Monkees and Def Leppord.

It was great.

Music was there for me.

If something bad happened, I'd listen to music to cheer myself up.

Landlord yells at us again? Music.

Mom works too late? Music.

Someone gets hurt and we can't afford the medical care? Music.

Music was my everything.

When I was 9, I got wood that fell near the playground. I got some shoe strings, and made a little guitar. On a weekend, Shane even came over with some black paint. We made a little microphone, and had a little band. We really wanted to make music too. We even had a band name: The KS Group. KS meant Kai-Shane. Our parents ate it up, but I don't really remember much of it. My parents couldn't afford a camera, or anything like that. Our equipment broke a couple months later, but I was always happy during my childhood.

Until...


	2. The Teenager Phase

We were halfway through the year in middle school. Zane was still my friend, but we were barely friends because he only cared to be cool, and fell into the teenager stereotype. I wasn't into that, and I was happy to admit I was a huge dork. I didn't care, because I had about 2 or 3 friends. It started out fine.

9 year olds: "Hey Kai! Are you working on you new fan fiction?" "Yeah, I actually am!" "Cool, what's it about?" "Well it's one based off The Simpsons. Homer brings his family on an epic quest for what he calls is the ultimate treasure. Spoiler alert: It's a beer." I watch Shane laugh. "It sounds awesome, I can't wait to read it!" Shane seemed super supportive on me, excited to readthe fanfictions I create.

12 year olds: "Hey, you wanna play football?" "Oh, no thanks. I don't really like sports, I'd rather write some fanfiction because I have nothing to do. Unless we wanna go up to your place and play your Super Nintendo?" "Nah, I'm good. I might go play football with everyone else." "Ok, well talk to you soon!

Just half a year after the last. "Yo! Wanna go play some basketball?" "No thanks, I'm not a fan of basketball, maybe would could play kickball though?" "Kickball? What are we, preschoolers?" "No, we're middle schoolers, and we're STILL KIDS." "Whatever Kai, You'll understand eventually that we're grown up." he said, walking away.

I really started to get negative when I'm around Shane now. I took a break from Shane and spent time around people that actually liked me.

That being said, there was a day that everything changed. And my other friends were all because of it.

Sure, funny joke.

Anyways, this is what happened... and strap in folks.

One day, they were all going on a field trip. I know it sounds weird that all of them are on it when only a couple classes went, but I only had 4 friends. Since I didn't have any friend to go to, I decided to go sit with Shane. Oh well, what's the worse that could go wrong? I grabbed my tray of food and walked on overwhile whistling. I sat down, and everyone was dead quiet, giving me weird looks. "Hi Kai." "Heh, that rhymed!" I said. Shane gave me a stupified look. "So... What are you guys up to?" There was more silence, and I felt more and more awkward. "I'm assuming playing video games and sports?" Shane spoke in. "Uh... Sure." "Cool! Sports can be fun sometimes." I say, hating every moment from me sitting down. Someone decided to try and talk to me. "So..." "Kai." "Kai, what do you like to do for fun?" "Oh, not much. I like cartoons, video games, and I really enjoy surfing." "Surfing eh? That's neat." "Yeah. Surfing is a lot of fun." I was given more credit, and it was less awkward when I said I liked surfing. I ate some of my corn, and decided to speak to Shane again. "Hey Shane, I have a good new FanFiction idea!" Everyone was talking, and then they just suddenly went quiet. "Uh... What" "Come on Shane you know, I love writing fanfiction! You've always known this." "Yeah, I know." "Then why are you acting like you have no interest in it? You used to support me and love my stories." "Yeah, I was a DUMB LITTLE KID." "But... But you..." "Actually, I am excited for the idea, what's the original thing?" "Oh, it's a Ren and Stimpy fan fiction." "Ren and Stimpy? Really? Why are you still watching baby shows?" "But you watched it with me a year ago!" "Yeah, I GREW UP." Shane seemed to get meaner and meaner as life went on. I felt my breaths getting heavier and heavier, as I was getting teasing looks from everyone around me. "But... But I, nevermind, you're just gonna make fun of me." I say, laying my head down. "Aww wut wong? is wittle Kai sad and wonwey?" Shane said, in a baby voice. It was at that moment, Shane died in my eyes. I know it's just a phase, with the teenage stereotype. However, I just couldn't take it. Shane isn't even Shane anymore. I just wanted to walk away. I looked around at other tables, all full. Dangit, I have 18 minutes left with these idiots! "Shane, what happened to you? I know you're nice, but you just want to be mean to be cool." "Well maybe I just don't spend my Friday nights WATCHING ANIME OR PLAYING DATING SIMS." Shane said, obviously making fun of me being a "weaboo" "What's wrong with anime?" "It's weird!" "WEIRD? You continued to tease me and make me feel bad because THE SHOWS I LOVE ARE WEIRD?" "Well it's even weirder when you JERK OFF WHILE PLAYING DATING SIMS." Shane yelled, loudly. Everyone in the cafeteria looked at me with teasing eyes. I felt the anger welt up inside of me. I tried to hold it in, and not fuel Shane's flames. I tried not to cry, because I'd be seen worse than I have. Hold it in Kai, Hold it in Kai, hold it in Kai, I couldn't anymore. "WELL I'VE JUST BEEN A SUCKER FOR ROMANCE, SO I DECIDED TO ACTUALLY TRY SOMETHING OUT UNLIKE YOU, YOU WILL ONLY DO WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO MAKE YOU COOL AND YOU BARELY GET ANYTHING THROUGH THE RAISIN IN YOUR HEAD. AT LEAST I HAVE A PERSONALITY, AND AT LEAST I'M NOT A COMPLETE MIDDLE SCHOOL PIECE OF TRASH!" I screamed. I jumped up and slapped Shane in the face.

As you can imagine, it didn't take long for me to get in trouble. A teacher stopped everyone's attention, and grabbed me. "Kai! How could you?!" Shane acted like he was betrayed by his best friend for no reason. "Come on Kai, to my office." She said, walking me away. "But... But I" "Don't speak yet." She was taking me to her office, and I got FURIOUS! I looked over at Shane, who was laughing so hard and looking at me. I flipped him off as we left the cafeteria.

Principal Welkson sat me down and typed into her computer. "Kai, you're a great guy who's really nice. WHAT HAPPENED." "I'm sorry Mrs. Welson I just-" "This is the worst thing you've ever done. Tell me what happened." "Look, I've known Shane since we were really young. He always supported me when I wrote fanfiction and-" "Hold up, you write fanfiction?" "Uh, yes Mam but-" "Hang on." "Yes?" Mrs. Welkson typed into her computer once more. "Do you mind if I read some in my spare time?" "Uh- I, sure. If you don't mind dirty pages. We can't afford the best items. "Ok, I'll pick them out later." She said, seeming to be nicer. I sat back a little more, thinking she's nicer to me. "He's just thinking he's cool, in the teenager phase, and spread farther apart." "So you're saying this is Shane's fault?" "Oh, yeah. YES. He used to be my best friend in the world, but now he's such a jerk and he's trying to be SO cool that I went searching for more friends. Except Erold, Austin, and Jesse are on a field trip, so I decided to try one last chance to be friendly with Shane. He kept laughing at everything I do! He says I play dating sims to jerk off, I'm a baby because I don't like sports other than surfing and kickball, I just couldn't hold it in anymore! " "Either way, you took it WAY TOO FAR whether he used to be your friend or not. Go sit outside the hallway. She said, reaching for her printer. "Read this, and take it to your mom when you get home. And don't EVER do this again. I was going to give your more punishments, but I'm giving you a subtle warning. Do this again, and it'll be hell on earth." She said, with a fairly mean tone. I grab the paper, walk out, and spent the rest of my miserable day.

The rest of the day was awful, and I just spent it not paying attention and just drawing in my notebook. At the end, I walked home like normal. I was looking out infront of me, singing "Don't Fear the Reaper". "Come on baby! Don't fear the reaper!" I sang, when I heard gravel behind me... and a familiar voice... "What's up DORK" It was Shane. "Not now Shane." I said, calmly. "Why? Embarresed?" I didn't say anything. "Well Slider?" "Why did you get meaner?" "Meaning..." "You're a jerk now." "I just got a LIFE." "Whatever" "Whatever" Shane said, making fun of me once more. Then, I put on headphones and listened to my Walkman. Shane kept getting fed up, but I payed no attention. Eventually, he pulled my headphones off, and tried to make fun of me again. "Mmm hmm. Just what I thought, you're too scared to talk to me. Aww don't worwy wittle Shane wont huwt fwesh meat." He said. "At least, in a specefic degree!" He yelled, and pushed me down. "WHAT THE HELL SHANE?" I said, slapping him, pushing him, and walked away.

"Mom, I'm home!" I say. It takes a second, but I hear a response. "Oh, Ok sweetie! How was school?" She asked, coming in the room. "Not that great." "Aw, what happened?" "Shane kept making fun of me to the point of where it screwed up my whole day." I say, even though I know that's way too oversimplified. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" My mom hugs me. "What's that?" She said, looking at my hand. I hand her the paper and she read it. "WHAT? KAI, WHAT HAPPENED?!" She yelled. "It got so bad that I yelled at Shane." "KAI, I RAISED MY BOY BETTER THAN THIS." She yelled at me more. "Mom, imagine your friend suddenly starts being the worst person you've met. He then makes fun of you too much to the point of where you had to.!" "Kai... KAI! I fcan't belieive this! Just walk away! What the HELL?" Ilook down at me feet. "Go to your room! I'll call your school."

I come into my room, lay face down on the bed, and moan. "This is the worst day EVER!" I say to myself, not even exaggerating. I turn over and look at the ceiling, thinking about that David Bowie song. I feel a tear roll down my cheek as I sing.

"Ground control to Major Tom"

"Ground Control to Major Tom"

After all these years, David Bowie means more to me, and how the lyrics to Space Oddity has multiple deep meanings.

Not only that, but Space Oddity also helped me with a situation when I was younger.

When I was 6, A bird got injured and we took it in, and it became our short time pet. I loved it, and named it Frankie. He used to always be by my side and we were best buddies. I loved Frankie. But of course, Frankie healed, and we had to let him go. I was heartbroken, yet David Bowie helped me cheer up. Sometimes, I'd be near the window and see a pigeon come down to look at me. I'm not sure if it is Frankie, but it warms my heart.

 **Hey Everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. sorry, I know it gets annoying when you read a fanfiction and it's not finished. I typically finish all chapters and then release the story, but I came up with this fanfiction idea when I couldn't sleep, and I just want to see if people enjoy this story before I go ahead and finish it while I leave fanfictions for Gravity Falls and Plastic Memories I'm really looking forward to. Thanks!**


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